Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. – Genesis 2:15
A 15 year old High Schools student was censored and punished by his school for writing an article expressing his Christian beliefs regarding gay adoption (a PDF version of the article can be found here). Brandon Wegner, who writes for the Shawano High School student newspaper, wrote an editorial column which supported children being raised in a home by a mother and father. Another student wrote an article in favor of gay marriage. Wegner did not use deragatory language towards homosexuals and wrote a substantive argument in support of his position:

“If one is a practicing Christian, Jesus states in the Bible that homosexuality is (a) detestable act and sin which makes adopting wrong for homosexuals because you would be raising the child in a sin-filled environment.

A child adopted into homosexuality will get confused because everyone else will have two different-gendered parents that can give them the correct amount of motherly nurturing and fatherly structure. In a Christian society, allowing homosexual couples to adopt is an abomination.”

He cited various authorities and sources, including Scripture, in defense of his opinions. Wegner argued that children raised in an environment in which the mother and father are present had the best chance for success and that homosexual adoption should be prohibited. His article was released in conjunction with an opposing viewpoint provided by another student, Maddie Marquardt, also “The Hawk’s Post” copy editor. Marquardt countered in her argument that gay couples should be able to adopt because the foster system is broken and children need a two-parent home. As the Christian Post reported:

School officials at Shawano School District were alerted to the editorial column by a homosexual parent who wrote a formal complaint that Wegner’s opinion “constituted as hate speech” and could “cause kids to commit suicide.” The School District then issued an apology stating that “offensive articles cultivating a negative environment of disrespect are not appropriate or condoned by the Shawano School District,” USA Today reported. Liberty Counsel, a non-profit legal advocacy group that fights for religious freedom from persecution for Christians in America, is representing Wegner in this matter. They cite the principal as saying Principal Zwirschitz allegedly told the student: “in a public school, you can’t use the Bible as a source because we can’t impose our religious beliefs on other people.” He is also said to have remarked: “the school newspaper is not the place to be talking about your religious beliefs at your age.” Zwirschitz allegedly added: “because of this article you can’t write about religion, politics, or social issues in the school paper.” (source)

The District Superintendent also met with Wegber and asked the young man if he now regretted writing the article but Wegner stood by his Biblical beliefs. Upon hearing Wegner’s response the Superintended said the young man “”had got to be one of the most ignorant kids to try to argue with him on this topic,” and that “we have the power to suspend you if we want to.” These meetings all took place without notifying Wegner’s parents.
“His article was done in a tasteful way,” countered Matthew Staver of the Liberty Counsel. “The [District] humiliated Brandon in front of everyone, prevented him from his exams, and jeopardized his academic progress.” According to the lawyer, the 15-year-old’s parents were never notified about these meetings with the school district. “The actions taken by the district to censor only the religious speech of students, while allowing opposing viewpoints on the same topic is simply unconstitutional,” the letter reads.

Once again, the effort to silence Christians a Biblical worldview is taking hold in American public schools. God, who created marriage in the book of Genesis has set an order for the family, and that is between a man and a woman (for more on this see “Christian Singer Jennifer Knapp “Comes Out”: Is It OK to be Christian and Gay?“). Bible-believing Christians have every right to express this view, even in a public school. If the nation and political leaders want to change the definition of marriage, that is their right and prerogative. But Christians are called to be separate from the world. This means that despite what movement away from Biblical righteousness and morality, Christians are to stand firm on Biblical truth. Jesus prayed over His disciples and said:

13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. – John 17

Pray for this young man to keep his faith in the face of hostile persecution from his school and for Christians to continue to stand for what the Bible says over the current trend in society.

Reader Interactions

Comments

That’s it I am done. This site is an anti-human ultra idiotic site. Nothing you say has any historical fact, none of it is even discussed in theology classes… I mean.. Nicky minaj a devil worshiper… try Bush that mass murdering war monger who attacked his own country (9/11) and blamed it on muslim terrorists 4 of which have been found alive after crashing into the towers!. Think for yourself. There is no god, there was no Jesus, we have has these stories since the begining of mankind to try to explain what we did not understand. If you don’t believe me, look up the epic of gilgamesh… same as noah’s arc but thousands f years before… The bible, religion and god is a way to control the masses by stating faith.. Faith says it does’nt give answers it stops you from asking the questions. WAKE UP. There is no devil conspiracy. The world will not end, it has been here for millions of years, We will end, because all great civilizations do, greatly in part to religion. Begining and end, You need to study before you write, you are only making an impact on stupid uneducated or faith blinded people. If you want to get comments that challenge the intellect, bve smarter. I have many great christian friends, but they’re not stupid, quite smart, almost enough to realize god is —, so is jesus and that’s that. Bye forever you women bashing, gay bashing infanticidal megalomaniacs, keep believing in a god that kills children, rapes women, condones slavery and contradicts his own word 11,456 times in the bible…13,507 if you count he deas sea scrolls and the gospels counted out of the bible. Come back to me when you can disprove me… better yet don’t. Leave me be for you are inferior mentally and I feel i lose IQ points reading your garbage. How about you follow the word and stop judging, Gay people are human just like you “he who is free of sin, cast the first stone” said jesus…. Or so the liars say, (look for that pasage i the bible) Surprise!. Love!

Never in my life have I read so many contradictions in one paragraph. If you were focused on making factual points rather than trying to blister the image of Beginning and the End you’d probably make a little more sense. First you state that “there is no Jesus” (with out any supporting evidence) not only are you suppressing the truth but you are going against what MANY not believers KNOW and can AGREE that Jesus Christ did in fact exist. Then you go on to say that you have many “Christian”friends who are smart and almost smart enought to realize God is — , so is Jesus” I don’t even know what that means, but if I think I’m understanding that was your way of belittling Jesus. Anyways I didn’t even want to respond to this comment because I just didn’t find that it was someone really seeking for answers but someone who is just tired and wants to give up rather than find out the truth. I mean that’s cool with me, salvation is VERY personal so I can’t save you. But I will say this, Jesus loves you, this is exactly what he died for, and there are so many historical events, scriptures that can prove this.

you know, i am not sure if this comment will be published as it wont be first time for christian website to accuse others censoring christians views and goes around censoring any views that disagree with them.

but i’ll take my chances

firstly, i am a gay christian. and no, i wont be making apology for it. as Jesus is the one that offers salvation, and He IS my Lord, not my fellow straight christians.

secondly, unlike many non christians who read this website and many other similiar website that publish materials that belittle and insult gays, i happened to know my scripture.

i know my scripture well enough to know that all sins are equal. i know my scripture well enough to know that homosexual “lifestyle” is no better or WORSE than any other kind of sins.

However, i cant help but noticed ‘many” not all straight christians relish on using that word “abomination” on gay community, and say it in a disgusted kind of tone ( many times they and many christian websites on the internet would even use the word disgusting openly)

i am always like really? you do realize when you “lied” “overeat/gluttony” or better still, insulted gays by calling us disgusting, that you just commited a sin that ( according to the bible) that make you every bit as disgusting as those gays you are insulting?

and what about the sin of self righteousness, that many of you think just because you cant be tempted by homosexual sins, that you are somehow better than us? that somehow those of us who can be tempted by such sins are disgusting compare to you?

i have confronted many straight christians on this issue in the past, some are receptive, but others simply insulted me some more.

what i also know is that while scripture made it crystal clear that homosexual lifestyle is indeed a sin, there are NO passages where God forbid gay becoming parents.

as for the sin filled enviroment, please, that is one of the most crappy argument i have ever encountered. because the fact is unless the parents are christians themselves, all children raised in non christian household are raised in a sin filled enviroment.

like i have mentioned earlier, homosexual lifestyle is no less but no “more” serious than ANY OTHER kind of sins.

hence according to this kind of flawed logic, all non christians should be barred from becoming parents. but the point is did God ever give us christians the authority to impose this kind measures on non chrisitans.

nope.

hence many chrisitans who expressed this type of view certianly expressing their own views. but such view like i have explained, are clearly unscriptural, hence they are NOT christian views at all.

and without scripture actually supporting their ” personal” views, their view are no longer just personal views, but “hate” speech”

in fact i would argue the boy already crossed the line by single out homosexual sin and make it “the sin” use the word detestable, i what i can see, an insulting manner, suggesting homosexual sin is somehow make us more disgusting, than say, himself.

where as he is only made righteous through his “belief” in Jesus, not through his “perfection”.

lastly, i just want to point out that according to science, the jury is still out on whether homosexual parenting indeed hurts kids or NOT! but most researches actually pointed to no, in fact, in a recent research done by Mark Regerus actually indicate kids grow up with two same sex parents in a stable enviroment “may” just be just as good as those grow up in heterosexual households. but more researchs are needed to confirm this.

so please, God is NOT on your side, neither is science at this stage.

hence there is certianly no place in this world for this type of speech that aim to discriminate and belittle others.

and btw, if christians want to quote science, they need to do their research first.

knowing bible doesnt automatically make you an expert on science as well. one need to remember that.

Thank you for your comments. Please know that all viewpoints are welcome at Beginning and End. I just wanted to address a few things:

“Abomination” — Please note that in Mr. Wagner’s article, he quoted the Bible and did not use the word “abomination” as his own commentary. It is God who says that homosexuality is an abomination. I agree that Christians should not use that verses as a license to be malicious to others – that is obviously wrong. Scriptures are not meant to harm people. But they are meant convict us of our sin. And the bottom line is that sin is indeed sin, but God hates all sin. So there is no sugar coating any type of sexual sin, straight or gay, from a Biblical standpoint. It is wrong and abhorrent to The Lord. There is no place for a Christian to glory in their own righteousness and that is something this site will never do. But we all have a duty to point sins in society through sound Biblical teaching.

“God does not forbid gay people becoming parents” —

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” — Genesis 2:24

“And [Jesus] answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” — Matthew 19:4-5

Clearly, in the Bible marriage, which was created by God was intended to be between a husband (male) and wife (female). Notice Jesus says “What GOD has joined together..” By Biblical standards, there is no same-sex marriage. God will never honor or create sinful marriage. So while society can choose to legalize it and gay people are free to marry each other, by the Bible’s standards they are not married. So just as two straight people who are married and cheating with each other are not to be have children and be parents to them, neither would same sex couples be validated by Bible scripture.

Scientific research — Maybe the research about kids in same-sex homes growing up being just as good is true. I have no reason to doubt you. But what really matters is what is your definition of “good”? If by good you mean behaving, then maybe that research is true. But if by “good” we mean Biblical holiness then the answer is no. If 2 parents are rejecting God blatantly and living in sin they are not leading their children the right way.

Here is what God says about raising children:

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: 5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. – Deuteronomy 6

We are to raise our children daily to believe, understand and follow the Bible daily. This how one does a “good” job at parenting. It’s by living in a God-honoring home. This is the standard.

Once again, I truly appreciate your comments. I think if you look closer at this site, you will see that there is no agenda to “bash” the gay community but rather discuss these issues and show the Bible’s perspective which people can just to believe or disbelieve (as is their right and prerogative). I would strongly encourage you to check out this article on the issue of “Can someone be Christian and gay?” and see more of what I mean. I would really welcome your thoughts on that article. Thanks again and may God bless you abundantly.

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” — Genesis 2:24 ”

“And [Jesus] answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” — Matthew 19:4-5″

“By Biblical standards, there is no same-sex marriage”

I agree. The only marriage that scriptural acknowledges is one between a man and a woman.

“So just as two straight people who are married and cheating with each other are not to be have children and be parents to them, neither would same sex couples be validated by Bible scripture.”

Ok, the above passages you have provided only talks about the kind marriage God wanted, it does not talk about “parenting right” is exclusively reserved for those in a heterosexual marriage.

Furthermore, l just wants to point out if that is how you feel, then why you are targeting/focusing gay couples. Why aren’t you voicing your concern over adoptions by heterosexual de facto couples, or like you said, heterosexual couple who are married but are not faithful to each other?

Ok, I acknowledge I don’t know you personally. But I have to admit, most Christians organisations do focus their fire powers on gay community exclusively, maybe addresses little bit on de facto couple situation, but I have yet to hear any Christian organisations take any actions against unfaithful heterosexual couple situation. Why is that?

If this is not double standard / hypocrisy, then I don’t know what is.

Also as a Christian, I am sure you would agree with me that it is not what we say that is most important, but whether our actions match our words.

And you know, in the past I have this type of conversation with many Christians before. And they always say the same thing. “yes, I believe that heterosexual sexual sin is just as bad as homosexual sins”.

However, once the conversation is over, they continue in their merry ways and continue to focus on promoting legislations changes that will only affect gay community and gay community only.

Given the incongruence of their words and behaviours. I often wonder whether they actually take what they themselves said seriously, or are they just saying those kinds of things to avoid being caught out as double standard.

For us Christians, words means very little if there are no actions to back it up.

“But if by “good” we mean Biblical holiness then the answer is no. If 2 parents are rejecting God blatantly and living in sin they are not leading their children the right way.”

Again, by using the term “rejecting God blatantly and living in sin”, you are making homosexual lifestyle sounded like it is “the” sin or most serious sin.

All sins are equal.

Hence any non-believer parents who are in heterosexual marriage who lies regularly (and yes, they all do), are living in a lifestyle that is every bit defiant of God as an openly gay couple.

Ok I know you are going to say, I didn’t mean it like that. Well, in this case, what you mean is not as important as the purpose of the statement you are trying to convey.

And you are trying to convey/ singling out the gay community from all other heterosexual non-believers who are practicing sins that are just as seriously in their daily lives. And reserve the penalty you want for Gay sinner only.

So please, answer my question straight up, according to what you just said, should you not outlaw all non-Christians from becoming parents, why just the gays?

“We are to raise our children daily to believe, understand and follow the Bible daily. This how one does a “good” job at parenting. It’s by living in a God-honoring home. This is the standard.”

By standard, you mean the standard Lord set for His believers?

And you are trying to say because gay parents (or should we say all non-Christians parents, gay or straight) aren’t raising their children strictly according to the scripture, they should all be barred from being parents?

What next, would you like to advocate shutting down of ALL non-Christian schools because they are not leading kids to God?

Personally I think any parents who are able to provide kids with a loving, secure environment, and environment that contributes to kids becoming well-adjusted adults, should be allowed to become parents.

and for leading them to God, that is why we are told to spread the Gospel and making witnesses to non believers.

Again, God never said anything about non-Christians not allowed to becoming parents.

If you want to take it that far, then it becomes your personal opinion.

But scripture never gave us the right to impose our values on non-believers this way.

And if you really want to do it. At least not applying the double standard, one for gay community and one for every other non-believers/sinners.

However, I suspect you know your scripture well enough that you are already familiar with everything I have said already.

You made a great point about the fact that, since all sins are equal, that would require all
non-Christian people to be barred from being parents, not just homosexuals.

Although, I think I can answer your question “Why single out gays?”

Homosexuality has become one of the most accepted sins in today’s society and so lots of Christian organizations have “singled them out”, so to speak. B+E saw what happened to this child and thought it a good topic to talk about, but can you imagine if he/she addressed EVERY sin that exists?

I think homosexual people should be able to adopt legally. I mean, EVERYONE sins. Either only Christians should be able to have a kid (which sounds like a lot of government bias to me) or everyone should be able to raise a child.